Limitation of hours of work. Application to certain persons. Provision for exceeding the limit in certain cases. Exception in the case of accidents. Exception as to continuous processes. Board of Power to hold inquiries. but the term “industrial undertaking" shall not include any branch of the agricultural, horticultural, or dairying industry: "Regulations" means regulations made by the Board of Adjustment under this Act. 3. The working-hours of persons employed in any public or private industrial undertaking or in any branch thereof, other than an undertaking in which only members of the same family are employed, shall not exceed eight in the day and forty-eight in the week, with the exceptions provided for by or under this Act. 4. The provisions of section 3 shall not apply to persons holding positions of supervision or management, nor to persons employed in a confidential capacity. 5. Where by custom or agreement between employers' and workers' organizations, or, where no such organizations exist, between employers' and workers' representatives, the hours of work on one or more days of the week are less than eight, the limit of eight hours may be exceeded on the remaining days of the week by agreement between such organizations or representatives; but in no case under the provisions of this section shall the daily limit of eight hours be exceeded by more than one hour, nor shall the weekly limit of fortyeight hours be exceeded. 6. The limit of hours of work prescribed in section 3 may be exceeded in case of accident, actual or threatened, or in case of urgent work to be done to machinery or plant, or in case of force majeure, or so far as may be necessary to avoid serious interference with the ordinary working of the undertaking. 7. The limit of hours of work prescribed in section 3 may also be exceeded in those processes which are required by reason of the nature of the process to be carried on continuously by a succession of shifts, subject to the condition that the working-hours shall not exceed fifty-six in the week on the average. 8. (1.) For the purpose of the administration of this Act, there shall be a Board known as the "Board of Adjustment," which shall consist of three members, one of whom shall be the Deputy Minister of Labour, who shall be the Chairman of the Board, and the other members shall be appointed by and hold office during the pleasure of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council. Two members of the Board shall constitute a quorum. (2.) For the purpose of obtaining information, the Board shall have all the powers and authorities conferred by the "Public Inquiries Act" upon Commissioners appointed under that Act, and the provisions of that Act shall extend and apply, mutatis mutandis, to every inquiry held by the Board under this Act. All witnesses subpoenaed by the Board shall be paid the same witness fees and mileage as are now allowed by law to witnesses before the Supreme Court. 9. (1.) For the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of Regulations. this Act according to their true intent, the Board of Adjustment, subject to the approval of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, may make such regulations as are considered necessary or advisable. (2.) The regulations shall determine: (a.) The permanent exceptions that may be allowed in preparatory or complementary work which must necessarily be carried on outside the limits laid down for the general working of an industrial undertaking, or for certain classes of workers whose work is essentially seasonal or intermittent; and all permanent exceptions made by the Board shall forthwith be published in the Gazette, and thereupon shall have the same force and effect as if incorporated in this Act: (b.) The temporary exceptions that may be allowed so that industrial undertakings may deal with exceptional cases of pressure of work; but regulations under this subsection shall be made only after inquiry, and the Board shall fix the maximum of additional hours in each instance. Exceptions. agreements. (3.) In exceptional cases where it is recognized that the provi- Confirmation of sions of section 3 cannot be applied, but only in such cases, agreements between workers' and employers' organizations, or between workers' and employers' representatives, concerning the daily limit of work over a longer period of time may be given the force of regulations if confirmed by the Board of Adjustment. The average number of hours' work per week over the number of weeks covered by any such agreement shall not exceed forty-eight. (4.) The regulations shall: (a.) Require every employer to notify, by means of the posting (b.) Require every employer to notify in the same way such Regulations as to notices and records. Offences. Exemption of industries from Act. Violation of Act or regulations an offence. Penalties. Acts not affected. Expenses of administration for 31st, 1925. (c.) Require every employer to keep a record in the form prescribed by the regulations of all additional hours worked in pursuance of section 6 or in pursuance of any regulations made under subsection (2) of this section. (5.) Every employer who employs any person outside the hours fixed in accordance with clause (a) of subsection (4), or during the intervals fixed in accordance with clause (b) of that subsection, shall be guilty of an offence against this Act. 10. The Board of Adjustment, after inquiry held pursuant to section 8, and subject to the approval of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, may from time to time exempt any industrial undertaking or class of industrial undertakings in whole or in part from the operation of this Act, or for such seasons or portions of the year as it may consider necessary or expedient having regard to the nature and conditions of the industrial undertaking, the conditions of employment, and the welfare of the employees. 11. Every person who violates any provision of this Act or of the regulations shall be guilty of an offence against this Act, whether otherwise so declared or not. 12. Every person guilty of an offence against this Act shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a penalty not exceeding one thousand dollars. 13. The provisions of this Act shall not in any way limit or affect the provisions of the "Coal-mines Regulation Act," or the "Metalliferous Mines Inspection Act," or the "Labour Regulation Act." 14. In the absence of any special vote of the Legislative Assembly year ending March for the purpose of this Act, all expenses incurred in the administration of this Act for the fiscal year ending the thirty-first day of March, 1925, shall be fixed by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, and shall be payable out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund. Commencement. 15. This Act shall come into operation on the first day of January, 1925. VICTORIA, B.C.: Printed by WILLIAM H. CULLIN, Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty. 1923. An Act to amend the "Department of Industries Act." 1919, c. 34; H1 [Assented to 21st December, 1923.] IS MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows: 1920, c. 34. 1. This Act may be cited as the "Department of Industries Act short title. Amendment Act, 1923." 2. Section 7 of the "Department of Industries Act," being chap- Amends s. 7. ter 34 of the Statutes of 1919, as re-enacted by section 2 of the "Department of Industries Act Amendment Act, 1920," is amended by adding thereto the following subsection: "(2.) Out of the moneys standing at the credit of the Industrial Development Fund, the Minister of Finance shall from time to time pay and apply such sums as the Lieutenant-Governor in Council directs in the retirement and redemption of any outstanding Treasury bills or notes, or debentures, stock, or other securities issued and sold under the provisions of section 11 of this Act." 3. Said chapter 34 is amended by inserting therein the following Enacts s. 8A. as section 8A: "8A. Where the title to any real or personal property has been heretofore acquired or is hereafter acquired by the Crown owing to the breach of any covenant or condition contained in any mortgage, chattel mortgage, bill of sale, conditional sale, or other instrument given as security for a loan under this Act, the Lieutenant-Governor in Council may, upon such terms and conditions as he thinks fit, convey, lease, or dispose of the property." 4. Section 11 of said chapter 34 is amended by striking out the Amends s. 11. word "three" in the sixth line of subsection (1), as amended by section 3 of the "Department of Industries Act Amendment Act, 1920," and substituting therefor the word "two." |